Teaching writing skills for intermediates

Stage Two - Silent Preparation: Now explain to the students that you want them to talk about a time when they had a similar problem with the weather. Ask prompt questions (without eliciting the answers) to spark off ideas : Now think about a time when you had problems because of the weather. Have you ever had to drive in very bad weather, like I did? Where were you going? Who were you with? What was the weather like? What problems did it cause you? What happened in the end? Or have you ever been caught in really heavy rain? Or in a very bad thunderstorm etc etc.
Watch your students while you slowly ask these questions, and their body language will tell you when they’ve all thought of something to talk about. As a story comes to mind they will probably look up and to their left (1), and they’ll start to smile and to nod. (2)
Gaze left usually means recall
Once you're sure your students have all thought of something to talk about, ask them to sit silently and prepare what they want to say. They should mentally rehearse their ideas, and should identify anything that they don't know how to express. Tell them that at the end of the silent phase, you will provide any vocabulary that they need, but that you won't help at all during the conversation phase.
The first time you try this, don't expect it to work perfectly. Students won't necessarily see the point of the preparation, and may feel strange about sitting in silence. If you persevere with the technique, however, they will start to realise that the more they prepare in silence, the more successful their conversation is, and will start to really utilise the time you give them.
Stage Three - Vocabulary Input: Once the students have had a couple of minutes to prepare silently, ask them if they need any vocabulary or other help expressing themselves. If they ask how to say something using a verb structure which is too complex for them, reformulate it more simply for them (For example a third conditional If I’d known I wouldn’t have gone can be expressed using the simple past : I didn’t know so I didn’t go). Encourage them to explain the words they need using circumlocution strategies: What do you call the type of weather when little bits of ice fall out of the sky? If they can develop this type of strategy, it will help them greatly in real communication situations and it is in itself a way of increasing fluency.
Make sure that you do this part of the activity with the full attention of the class – the listeners as well as the speakers will need to understand the new vocabulary. List the words that the students request on the board and leave them there during the activity.
Stage Four – Storytelling and Feedback: The students tell their story to their first partner. Meanwhile the teacher circulates and notes down what the students say. Often this will be errors, but do try and note down anything 'impressive' that the students say too, for example if someone has remembered an expression used in a previous unit. Transfer your notes to the board and, after the conversations have finished, give language feedback. During the follow-up, the students can also have a second chance to ask for vocabulary.
Stage Five – Repeating the Story : Students then change partners and repeat the story. This time, their story should come much more easily to them, as they've now already had two 'rehearsals'. Again the teacher can monitor and do a follow-up as necessary.
Students then change partners again. If they still feel the need to 'polish' their own story, they can repeat it again. Stronger students, however, can have the option of now telling one of the stories their previous partners told to them.

This process can be allowed to go on for as long as the topic and the activity remain interesting to the students and they are gaining something from the activity. As the course progresses and students increase in fluency, the number of repetitions, like the silent preparation time, can be slowly cut down. However, the repetitions have two advantages :

Students are extending their vocabulary by using and hearing the words that arose in the vocabulary input stage again and again. Those students who go on to tell someone else's story will be using productively not only the words which they requested themselves, but also the words involved in the other person's story. Everyone, however, will have received a high 'dose' of vocabulary at the receptive level.
They can go on repeating their own story until they feel they've got it 'right'. This greatly increases their confidence in speaking English, and therefore their motivation. Stronger students don't get bored, because as soon as they want to, they switch to the greater challenge of telling someone else's story.

2.1 The use of games and activities in teaching writing

Play is one of the best ways to teach and encourage writing; it takes away the pressure and fear writing can sometimes offer. Games and writing activities encourage kids to experiment with language, storytelling, organization, and ideas. Through play, writers learn spelling, vocabulary, how to create imagery, develop plot, even revise. Play offers fun ways to learn skills that can be pretty boring. When play and writing go hand in hand, writers who love to write are filled with ideas and reluctant writers might just forget they don’t like writing.
While using writing games or writing activities may take more time than printing off a worksheet, in the end, play = practice = confidence = learning and growth!

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One of my favorite ways to help kids gather and organize their ideas, story cards or dice create silly, fun narratives. They also teach the importance of plot development, characterization, revision, and building conflict.
Writers build stories together or individually. Pick a card or roll the dice. The images help writers find their words and visualize their story.
3. Accordion Stories
Play with two people or twenty, an accordion story is fun because you never know what’s happened or going to happen until the end when the paper is unfolded and the story is read.
Sidenote- I did this activity in my adult class recently and it was hysterical!